Certainly arguments can be raised that no criminal or mentally
unbalanced individual should have access to guns. Between 1,500 and
2,000 deaths occur each year through the use of firearms. Quite
understandably, sensational news stories regarding shooting rampages in
schools, universities, churches and even our mass transit system have
only exacerbated our fear of guns.

However, there is also the flip side, the gun-owners' side, which does
not seem to get a very clear airing of its own arguments. Historically,
while many each year may perish from the use of guns, hundreds of
thousands, if not millions, die as a result of having lived under
totalitarian regimes across the world where guns among the civilian
populations are expressly forbidden. Though we rarely hear of them,
dozens of wars are fought globally at any given time where people are
targeted as a result of their race, religious or political persuasion.
During the 20th Century approximately 200 million people died under
totalitarian regimes: Nazi Germany, Soviet Russia and Red China are only
the most glaring examples but there are hundreds more. In almost all
cases, the people were first disarmed of any weapon, including hunting
rifles, and later systematically rounded-up and slaughtered.

My point is this, that while all of us should always be concerned about
crime in America, most crime globally is caused by governments
themselves, not the civilian populations upon made up primarily of
law-abiding citizens. Moreover, America since World War II has become
increasingly entangled with foreign powers that are themselves nothing
more than totalitarian regimes. Even today there are very few truly
democratic republics. The United Nations literally is inundated with
these undemocratic groups, many of which have absolutely no regard for
human rights and even go so far as to sponsor world terrorism. Yet at
the same time it is from the U.N. that much of this "gun control"
philosophy emanates. I fear this reality far more than crime in
America.

Yes, we need to keep the guns out of the hands of the criminals and
mentally unbalanced; it would be irresponsible to do otherwise. Yet
reality indicates that they will always be able to obtain weapons
regardless of anti-gun laws. It is only the law-abiding citizens who
will not be able to acquire them. To believe that the complete removal
of guns from society will keep us all safe from crime is to cross a line
that separates myth from reality. Indeed, I can only believe that
violent crime would grow immensely in any society where no one is able,
indeed, allowed to protect himself or herself.

Only a few months ago the Supreme Court of the United States voted not
to do away with our Second Amendment rights in a case involving the
Nation's Capital. Upon my hearing the Court's judegment, I could only
ponder as to how terrifying it must be to live a nation where only
government and its agencies are permitted to maintain weapons to enforce
whatever they deem necessary to pass into law. If all our rights are
being chipped away, and this is certainly the case today, what will
America look like in a generation or half a century from now? Can we
guarantee where America will be 40 - 50 years now both politically and
constitutionally? A 20th Century philosopher once said that he who does
not learn the lessons of history is bound to repeat its mistakes. Let
us not repeat the mistakes of other nations which eventually led to
their destruction. Our constitutional rights are there for good reason.
It is up to all of us to assure that they remain intact.